


Street Cat

by All_My_Characters_Are_Dead



Series: Mages and Familiars [9]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, The KuroKen origin story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-21 21:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6059536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_My_Characters_Are_Dead/pseuds/All_My_Characters_Are_Dead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo notices a stray cat on his way to his magic lessons.</p><p>Or: Kuroo Gets a Kenma</p>
            </blockquote>





	Street Cat

Kuroo passed the old, abandoned Nekoma Guild Hall every day on his way from his family's home to the shop owned by Nekoma's last Guildmaster, an old mage named Nekomata. The old man was a water mage, but he was the only one in town who knew enough about Kuroo's magic to be able to teach him anything, so instead of going to one of the Guilds in a nearby town, Kuroo stayed where he could learn from the old man. Kuroo tugged at shadows as he walked, testing which patches of darkness were strong enough to manipulate. Just as he was walking in front of the old Guild Hall, he sensed a particularly strong shadow and turned, expecting it to be the building's shadow. Instead, he found a small, hungry-looking house cat with golden fur and a black stripe down its back crouching nearby.

"Hello, there," Kuroo said, crouching to study the cat. "Are you hungry?" The young mage reached into the bag he was carrying and pulled out the sandwich his mother had packed for him. He took some of the meat out of the sandwich and offered it to the cat. For a moment, the animal studied him with solemn yellow eyes. Then it crept forward and snatched the meat from his fingers, retreating to its previous position to eat it. "I guess that's a yes." The cat looked up at him, then let out a quiet mew. Kuroo grinned and held out more food, which was promptly swiped. Before he knew it, the mage was out of things to feet the cat. "Sorry, but that's all I have," he informed the animal. The cat tilted its head at him, then twitched its tail.

"Kuroo! There you are!" The mage looked up and found Nekomata's familiar, Naoi, jogging toward him. Kuroo stood and smiled.

"Sorry, Naoi. This cat just-" Kuroo turned to point out the cat to his mentor's familiar, but the animal was gone. "Huh. Guess he's shy."

The cat regularly showed up outside the abandoned Guild Hall after that, and feeding the animal became part of Kuroo's routine. The feline never ate as much as Kuroo thought it should, though, and it never showed itself when there were other people around. Naoi didn't believe him that there actually was a cat, and when Kuroo mentioned it to Nekomata, the old man just chuckled and told Kuroo to take good care of the little animal.

One day, Kuroo was running late, but he still stopped outside the old Guild Hall to feed the cat and found a boy about his age leaning against the gate. The young mage frowned; the cat wouldn't come out if there was someone else here.

"You're late," the boy complained, yellow eyes narrowed. Kuroo's frown deepened as the boy walked toward him.

"Who are you?" Kuroo asked. The boy shrugged.

"I don't remember," he answered. "I was kind of hoping you or your mentor would know."

"Ah, Kozume. You've showed yourself at last!" Kuroo whirled and found Nekomata strolling calmly toward them.

"You know him?" Kuroo asked, glancing from the old water mage to the boy and back.

"Of course. And so do you; he's your cat," Nekomata added, grinning. Kuroo's eyes widened and he turned to stare at the boy.

"Cat?" Kuroo repeated. The boy shrugged, and then his form blurred, shrinking and changing until the cat Kuroo had been feeding was sitting where the boy had been.

"Kozume is a demon who lives in the area. He used to be one of Nekoma's information contacts back in the day. When you said you found a cat, and described him, I knew exactly who it was," Nekomata explained. Kuroo blinked, and the boy was back, watching him with yellow eyes that apparently didn't change, no matter what form he was in.

"So if you're a demon, why are you hanging around the old Guild Hall? Don't most demons live in the forest?" Kuroo asked. The demon called Kozume shrugged.

"Not me. I don't like all of the tension between groups," he sighed. "It's exhausting."

"So instead, you hang out around the old Guild Hall and get Kuroo to feed you," Nekomata laughed. The demon tilted his head.

"It's not like I'm lazy enough not to repay him," Kozume replied. The old water mage's eyes lit up.

"Oh? Why don't you come with him to his lessons today, then?" he suggested. Kozume looked like he was debating turning back into a cat and bolting, but he sighed and nodded instead.

"I suppose I can give it a try."

**Author's Note:**

> This was really short and I'm sorry. I might rewrite this or add more later.   
> For now, a few things: Kenma is his bond/contract name, and he goes by that in his day to day life so no one will suspect it's his bond name. After all, as someone who knows lots of other people's bond names, Kenma knows that the best way to keep a name secret is to make it the last name anyone would guess.  
> Also, he only uses his lion form in battle, because his cat form is easier to get Kuroo to carry him in.


End file.
